In the first-ever salvo of its kind against the judiciary, Maoists in Chhattisgarh have issued a stern warning to the judges, who award punishment to the tribals “without any evidence or under instructions from the police”, that they will face trial in the people’s court(Jan Adalat).
The warning was contained in a three-page statement signed by Dandkaranya Special Zone committee spokesperson Gudsa Usendi.
And it alleged that the judges in the state had been passing judgments against the tribals and Maoist supporters merely on the basis of the evidence adduced by the police.
To substantiate the charge, the extremists have cited the case of one of their woman cadre Nirmala, who was arrested by the police in 2007 and has been languishing in the Jagdalpur prison ever since. “145 cases were filed against her. In 100 of them, she has been set free. This shows how the government is wrongly arresting people on the basis of false charges. Another cadre, Malti was given 10 years’ term for distributing a video CD that showed the atrocities committed by the Salva Judum. No evidence was submitted in her case. The HC rejected their appeal even without going into the merits of the case,” it said.The statement has also exhorted the media to highlight the problems encountered by the ‘political prisoners’, who are lodged at the various prisons in the state. According to the Naxals, several thousand tribals are languishing in the state’s jails.
“The conditions in these prisons are very bad. Most of them are overcrowded, the food that they are provided is unhygienic. The prisoners, who demand their rights, are beaten up mercilessly by the prison officials,” the statement alleges.Naxals have warned the “corrupt prison officials”, who allegedly torture the Maoist cadre.